Multiple foreign publications have reported that Israeli submarines are part of a triad of nuclear deterrence that Israel possesses.
The final of six submarines that Germany manufactured as part of a long-ago signed deal is on its way to Israel, the IDF and the Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday night.
Israeli Navy Chief V.-Adm. Eyal Harel and German Naval Chief Jan Christian Kaack, as well as other top Israeli and German officials, attended a send-off ceremony for the submarine earlier this week.
In February of this year, Elbit Systems released a strikingly vague statement about the beginning of joint work in Israel with the German maritime vessel manufacturing giant TKMS (the successor company to an expanded ThyssenKrupp and produced this submarine) to produce "structural components" for future submarines.
As part of the cooperation, Elbit said at the time that it would establish a new manufacturing facility for underwater GRP (Glass Reinforced Polyester) components for submarines.
Yoram Shmuely, general manager of the Aerospace Division at Elbit Systems, said, "This cooperation will expand local manufacturing capabilities and serve as an anchor for global activity in the underwater domain."
In December 2025, with Germany about to deploy its Arrow air defense system, bought from Israel, for the first time, Israel's Defense Ministry made new progress regarding the German-built submarines in Berlin, The Jerusalem Post reported at the time.
According to foreign reports, the submarines can deliver nuclear weapons. Multiple foreign publications have reported that Israeli submarines are part of a triad of nuclear deterrence that Israel possesses, along with land-based and air-based weapons.
During Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram's stay in Germany, along with other senior defense officials, they made new progress regarding the ongoing submarine deals, which have unique offensive and defensive capabilities.
Though Israel has never publicly admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, former prime ministers – such as Ehud Olmert and others – have, at times, slipped up and alluded to the weapons program.
Besides the offensive dimensions, the IDF made unusual disclosures about the involvement of submarines in operations against Iran, Yemen, and Syria during the Israel-Hamas War, including operations that assisted with Israel's defense against aerial threats.
Movement on both the submarines and the Arrow, along with new levels of Israeli and German cooperation in other cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, signaled in December 2025 that the special relationship between Berlin and Jerusalem remained despite disagreements over the Gaza war.
In November 2024, then-IDF Naval chief V.-Adm. (ret.) David Saar Salame named the new "Dragon" submarine at a ceremony in Germany.
At the time, it was thought that Israel would receive the submarine in late 2025.
The navy has carried out surveillance and struck Hezbollah targets in several areas deeper into Lebanon than where IDF ground forces have progressed, given that those forces are limited to southern Lebanon.
In addition, the navy has provided constant defense to Israel's maritime borders and to its strategic sites, such as its natural gas rigs.
This has included clandestine operations that can reveal Hezbollah and other countries' plans to threaten or prepare to fire on Israel, but before they actually fire, it enables the air force to preemptively strike such enemy locations.
One especially challenging area has been defending against Houthi attacks on Eilat, given that when the navy helps shoot down threats, it must contend with an extremely small zone of defense so as not to invade Egyptian or Jordanian airspace – or it would need to coordinate with those countries if necessary.
The submarine deal dates back many years and has been part of the navy's strategic modernization effort.